US Embassy honours Amitabh Bachchan for his contribution to speeding awareness of Tuberculosis

Readers may recall that a couple of years back, megastar Amitabh Bachchan had confessed that he was suffering from Tuberculosis (TB) in the year 2000. This was around the same time when he had begun shooting for the superhit quiz show Kaun Bangega Crorepati (KBC). Amitabh Bachchan had made this confession at a function to launch BMC’s TB awareness campaign, for which he was chosen to be the brand ambassador. On his own admission, Amitabh Bachchan had said that he had been a patient of Tuberculosis years ago, but had never spoken about it on a public platform. He had also mentioned that, if Tuberculosis could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.

In view of Amitabh Bachchan s invaluable contributions to the US-India partnership on tuberculosis, he was given an award by the U.S. Embassy. The said award was presented to Amitabh Bachchan on January 8 by Richard R. Verma, who happens to be the US Ambassador to India. Speaking on a live video-chat with the Facebook users, both, Amitabh Bachchan and Richard R. Verma discussed the US Embassy’s collaboration to eradicate Tuberculosis in India and also the US-India partnership among other issues.

Speaking about Amitabh Bachchan and his immense contribution to the field of tuberculosis, Richard R. Verma not only thanked him for his dedication to support the cause, but also appreciated him for sharing his story as a Tuberculosis survivor, which would help in reducing the stigma associated with the disease. Richard R. Verma, while referring to the high occurrence of Tuberculosis-related deaths in India, said that more lives could be saved and eased the burden the disease plays on families, communities and corporations. On his part, Amitabh Bachchan said that it was really very inspiring that India and the US were natural partners with a long history of collaboration on the prevention of Tuberculosis, its treatment, research and cure. Amitabh Bachchan added that he hoped to continue to do his bit in the partnership in order to end Tuberculosis in India.